


Fire and Bone

by kankuwu



Category: Naruto
Genre: i doubt many more besides them but, leave your happy feelings at the door, this will be an angsty fest, who knows - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-08
Updated: 2020-07-08
Packaged: 2021-03-04 18:55:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,128
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25151239
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kankuwu/pseuds/kankuwu
Summary: Rasa is dead. Gaara is gone. Nothing in Suna is normal anymore, not that it ever has been. In the middle of political and economic turmoil, Kankuro attempts to face the trauma left behind by his family and has to choose to either embrace them or separate from them forever.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 8





	Fire and Bone

Kankuro kicked up dust on his way home from the training field. There wasn’t really much to train for these days. Since the death of their father and the aftermath of the Konoha attack, everything was worse than before. Worse than Kankuro could think that was possible. 

It had been weeks since he was last on a mission, solo or otherwise. Upon reentering the village, their team was all but dissolved. Temari and Kankuro expected to go back to their previous teams or to continue doing solo missions until all of this blew over. They didn’t expect to be punished for being wrapped up in an already shitty plan. 

It’s not like they had any real say about being involved! It was their father and the council who didn’t have faith in Suna’s ability to bounce back on its own. Kankuro didn’t blame them for taking these drastic measures, considering that the village has been on a constant decline for over 20 years now. The council was doing everything it could to smooth over the drama from their father’s plan mostly by shifting the blame to Gaara’s instability and his siblings incompetence to control him. As if that was their job. 

Kankuro kicked at a rock with that thought. They were a fucking clean up crew for his father and the council’s mistakes. It wasn’t his fault that his little brother was literally crazy. He didn’t ask for a demon brother. He didn’t ask for his dad to betray Konoha. He didn’t ask for any of this, but of course he would have to deal with it. Grin and bear it.

Hah, more like just bear it. There was nothing to smile about in this village. 

His trail eventually led him home. Or rather the building he lived in. Kankuro’s attachment to things was waning and he was only partially aware of it. The kazekage mansion sat like a hollow husk of a puppet, except he couldn’t attach any strings to it. It was useless to him but it was all he had. 

He entered the modest home that represented all of the lies their father had ever told. It’s weird that even with the old man gone, this place felt just as empty and deceiving. 

“Some things just don't change, huh?” Kankuro mumbled to himself as he kicked off his shoes. 

“Huh?” Came a reply he didn't expect and was almost tempted to ignore. His sister came from a back room, her hands buried in a towel. “Did you say something, Kankuro?”

“No.” He said. He pushed past her in the hallway, barely waiting for her to move out of his way. 

“Excuse you.” Temari said as they bumped shoulders. “What happened to your fucking manners?” 

_‘They died with dad.’_ He thought. No, Maybe he should say something meaner. What would Gaara say in a moment like this? He'd probably just stare her down or attack her. Or maybe he would keep walking. 

Yea he wouldve just kept fucking walking because Temari wouldn't have said anything to him about his manners. Gaara got to do whatever the fuck he wanted. 

That made Kankuro angry. It made him want to keep walking to, ignoring her. He wanted to have the guts to turn around and give her a death stare and call her a stupid bitch like Gaara would have. But he wasn't Gaara. And he wasn't sure he wanted to be. So he resigned himself to being Kankuro and faced his sister. 

“Sorry.” He mumbled, hands shoved deep into his pockets. 

Temari’s gaze softened once he turned back to her. Perhaps Kankuro wasn't aware of it but he looked so tired. She thought it would be an exaggeration to say he looked broken but that's how she felt too. 

She could have went into him for being rude or for his half-assed apology. That would make things feel normal at least, but things weren’t normal. Things were broken. 

“It's fine. I’m...making dinner if you're hungry. I just finished the rice.” 

Kankuro didn't think about what gaara would do this time and instead walked into the kitchen, his eyes on the floor in front of him. Temari looked down the hallway, tempted to call out for anyone else to show themselves. She turned around as Kankuro filled his bowl with rice and accepted that there was no one else to call. 

***

“There's veggies steaming. I haven't bought any groceries yet, so we don't have much meat.” She admitted as she joined him in the kitchen again. Kankuro gave her nothing more than a shrug before taking a seat at the table. Rice was good enough. 

Temari began to fill a bowl for herself just as the veggies started to ring. “Have you heard about the funeral plans yet? For dad.” She topped off her rice with veggies then joined him at the table. 

“What the hell do we need to have a funeral for? There's no body.” Kankuro said over a mouthful of rice. “It's not like he would make this kind of fuss over us.”

“Kankuro, you know that's not true. Besides it's just...it's the right thing to do. It's just proper.”

“Proper. Since when do we ever do anything proper around here?” Kankuro said, shoving more food into his mouth. “They’re just gonna waste time and resources hunting for him when they could give us actual missions to bring money back into the village.”

“He’s the Kazekage, Kankuro. Or..was. Of course they’re going to look for him first before they move on.”

“That's all that bastard was, wasn't he?” Kankuro spat. “It's not like he was ever a dad, huh? Why the hell should I care that he's dead if he didn't even care that we were alive!” He didn't realize he was screaming until he was done. The chopsticks between his fingers threatened to snap so he tossed them on the table. He took a deep breath through his nostrils then leaned back in his seat, arms crossing over his chest.

Temari stared at him. He wasn't meeting her gaze, instead staring at his bowl. She sighed. “I think they’re waiting until Gaara gets back before they hold any ceremonies. You know, so we all have a chance to give a proper goodbye.”

Kankuro laughed. It wasn't delightful. It was insulting and pathetic. “God, get a fucking grip Temari. No one’s waiting for anyone to come back. No one’s looking for any one. No one is waiting for shit to go back to normal.”

He stood up, grabbing his bowl and dumping it. “It's better that he's gone, Temari.”

She turned around at him, confused. “Who? Dad?”

He opted out of answering, instead storming out of the kitchen and to his room.

**Author's Note:**

> a short beginning chapter to a project i hope to actually finish (among my other unfinished projects lmao im sorry sorry to anyone waiting for other fics to update) hopefully this one will go somewhere since i've already prepped some stuff for it. its gonna get angsty


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